Today Is The 50th Anniversary Of Zeppelin's First Show

Billed asThe New Yardbirds in order forJimmy Page to fulfill contractual obligations by his former band,The Yardbirds, they turned in an 11-song set that included such future Zeppelin classics as "Dazed and Confused," "Communication Breakdown" and "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You."

Page says, "We were really scared, because we only had about 15 hours to practice together. It was sort of an experimental concert to see if we were any good. I guess."

Peter Grant, their late manager, had this to say: "I remember everything Jimmy Page had told me about the drummer, John "Bonzo" Bonham. And the whole performance. It was so…exciting! Just to be part of it was fantastic. There was never a thought of, 'God, this is going to sell X amount of records.' I thought it could be the best band ever."

A review in the Teen Club's monthly members' magazine read, "Their performance and their music were absolutely flawless, and the music continued to ring nicely in the ears for some time after the curtains were drawn after their show. Let me in particular give my praise to Jimmy Page, who has made a great job with the three new men. They really succeeded and in particular the guitar solo created huge applause. We can therefore conclude that the new Yardbirds are at least as good as the old ones were."